Comments on: Bluetooth Not Supported by Windows XP

In a stunning blow to the emerging standard, Microsoft officials have announced that the next version of their operating system, Windows XP, will not support Bluetooth wireless networking. However, it will support IEEE 802.11b, a rival standard that offers much higher bandwidth for a much higher cost.

"I don't think the maturity of Bluetooth technology is good enough to ship the bits when Windows XP is released," said Carl Stork, general manager of Microsoft's Windows division. "We wouldn't want to ship something that doesn't work, and Bluetooth doesn't yet meet a certain quality level."

 "We wouldn't want to ship something that doesn't work"

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/3/2001 10:38:37 AM #

MS said so??!!!!!!!!!!!

 RE:

jayhawk88 @ 4/3/2001 11:36:16 AM #

Heh, that is pretty damn funny when you think about it. I'd say this decision has less to do with, "We don't want to support it because we don't think it has a future", and more to do with, "Our XP code is a shambles already, the last thing we need is another feature to set us back another 3 months".

 RE:

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/3/2001 1:00:50 PM #

This is great, i just couldn't stop laughing......................
If I didn't know better I would have thought this was one of those April Fools News releases.

 RE: "We wouldn't want to ship something that doesn't work"

I.M. Anonymous @ 4/3/2001 6:25:49 PM #

Man. Imagine how bad off bluetooth is if it doesn't live up to Windows quality standards!

 The Register's Opinion

Ed @ 4/4/2001 1:02:41 AM #

I thought you might be interested in the Register's take on this:

Such is the momentum behind Bluetooth, it may not matter too much. Last year's Bluetooth developer conference in San Jose saw some impressive PC demos from Bluetooth SIG founders Toshiba and IBM, among others, using stacks they'd written themselves. If Redmond stalls, the world won't wait for it to catch up.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/18074.html

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Palm Infocenter

 Reg Bluetooth Editorial

Ed @ 8/2/2001 8:56:27 AM #

The Register has published an editorial with the opinion that the reason Microsoft isn't supporting Bluetooth is that Bluetooth will mostly benefit handhelds and the Palm OS, which dominates the handheld market. They prefer to support 802.11b, which is better suited for laptops, which mostly run Microsoft's OS.

http://www.theregister.co.uk/content/5/20780.html

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News Editor
Palm Infocenter